NCS: math

Today I popped my head into three different math classes: from comparing fractional portions, to graphing campus energy usage, and on to solving linear equations. I have also enclosed a short video snippet from my own geometry class (access my blog through the NCS website), as students worked through some algebra review problems dealing with systems of equations.

NCS: a potpourri

We are having another gorgeous day in the Adirondacks. Today's pictures include: a Level IV and V study hall, a picture of one of Don's 30+ individual music students, and a sketch of a costume for "James and the Giant Peach" to be performed on June 5th. Finally, the videos of the day (posted on my blog found on the NCS website) feature a couple of segments from this morning's Town Meeting. In one snippet you see Sarah our student government (Community Council) talking about the student run weekend. In the next you see the noisy and slightly chaotic scene of signing up for your favorite weekend activity ... as per yesterday's missive empowering students to make decisions, exercise leadership, and solve problems is a key component of all our curricular elements.

NCS: the good weather continues

Hello.

I have just returned from a very productive board meeting in NYC, and I am delighted to see that I have not missed all the spectacular Spring weather. Enclosed are a couple of pictures taken during the 8th grade class trip ... cooperation, team work, and problems solving were key trip goals ... Goals which are also part of our ongoing curriculum both inside and outside the classroom. The other picture is of the construction crew starting to dig the trench to bring utilities from the main building to the site of the new student residence.

NCS: discussing a novel

Level II is discussing the book they are reading - Who Will Tell My Brother - written by Marlene Carvell. The book was the International Reading Association's children of the year book.

NCS: Earth Day

This morning’s Town Meeting was about energy use, the Green Cup Challenge, and Earth Day. The 7th grade science classes have completed their energy audit of all the residences and school buildings, and then made the data available to the 4th and 5th graders who used it for a graphing project. In an open forum the students shared the tactics they have individually used to cut down on energy use. Finally, this afternoon each house will be in charge of a different part of the campus to clean.
Hock

PS ... NCS acquired a Flip video camera yesterday and I am experimenting with including footage on my headmaster’s blog. Take a look at a 30 second snippet from Town Meeting.

NCS: class trip

The enclosed pictures show the 8th graders packing for their class trip. The vans left this morning heading to the seacoast area of New Hampshire for a four-day, three-night trip, returning Friday.  The class is heading to The Browne Center, a 103-acre outdoor facility run by the University of New Hampshire. The Browne Center offers group teambuilding initiatives, low ropes, and high ropes course activities for various organizations. Past school visitors have been Phillips Exeter, High Mowing School, Pembroke Academy, MIT, and Boston University.

NCS: capoeira

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian art form that makes a ritual of movements from martial arts, games, and dance.  Beginning in the fall, NCS Spanish teacher, Lindsay Anderson, has been transporting the capoeira students to practices in Lake Placid each Monday afternoon.  Tonight instead of our regular "Friday Night Movie" we helped our capoeira students celebrate their Batizado ("baptism" into the art of capoeira) and Troca de Corda (change of belts).  At tonight's special ceremony held in the Quonset, students being "baptized" were given a corda (cord belt) and an apelido (capoeira nickname) if they hadn't already earned one.  The capoeira students worked hard and gave an impressive demonstration that the rest of the students really enjoyed.

NCS: level I

The terrific weather has continued, although we had some rain and snow on Saturday when much of Level IV were taking SSAT tests. The pictures enclosed were from an African drumming workshop in Level I music class. (This visiting artist also worked with Level III today as well.) The other picture was from the CTT and NCS ski reunion in Alta this past weekend. This sampling of attendees has graduates and staff spanning the time period from the early 1950s through 2008 ... A fine time was had by all.

NCS: dinner

The wonderful weather continues. The afternoon was active from drill team to soccer and on to gathering sap and ultimate frisbee. After dinner students in grades 4-7 go home to their houses to do reading period, homework, evening showers, and calls home. The oldest students have a supervised student hall in the Dining Room. The excitement is beginning to grow as tomorrow’s Box Suppers approach.

NCS: fantastic weather

At the moment our forecast is for superb weather all week long, with day-time highs in the 50s. With April 10th having come and gone, all our seniors have made their decisions about secondary schools. Kudos to Nick for his placement work with families, and of course bravo to our 17 seniors who have had such an outstanding year. The senior class filed 66 applications and received 52 acceptances, with most students getting into their “first choice” school.

No doubt your children have begun to talk about Mountain Cakes, and soon you will hear about another great NCS tradition – Box Suppers - which will be held this coming Wednesday. Next week we celebrate Earth Day, and then on to the Grooming Contest. The enclosed picture is of our student built rickshaw, with one student steering, two students peddling, and two more students riding on the back to barn chores.

NCS: a quiz, a play, and a song

Another spectacularly beautiful, although quite chilly, day. Today’s pictures include: a picture of Peter’s language arts class taking a quiz on parts of speech, a picture of staff planning the staging and costuming for James and the Giant Peach, as well as a picture of a morning meeting sing-along. As per the play, please join us on June 5th, and if that is not possible, know that we will produce a DVD for families.

CTT: summer is coming!

Hello; I hope all is well and that your spring vacations and various religious celebrations with your family go well. The evenings are still quite chilly in the Airondacks, as last night’s lows were 15 degrees. While there is still a lot of snow on Giant off in the distance, the trail up Owl’s Head is clear and almost mud-free. No doubt there will be plenty of blueberries to be picked up here this summer. See you in about 10 weeks! (As always, click on the photograph to enlarge the image.)

NCS: green cup challenge

The weather is still chilly, however the day was perfectly sunny and full of beautiful blue skies. At lunch the 4-5th graders performed a brief skit to remind the community about saving energy in our month long, friendly, house versus house competition. The dramatized solutions included: shorter showers, turning lights off and room thermostats lowered, foregoing the hair dryer, and unplugging utensils not in use. The first of the 7th grade energy use audits should be published next week.

Enjoy the holidays.

NCS: math

Enclosed today are various pictures of the Level I math classes. As with all our classes, the math sections are very small, allowing a great deal of individual attention, the adoption of different methods, and a varied pace. Included in today’s email, is also a picture from my office at the close of my Geometry class ... We were doing a bit of algebra review manipulating formulas.

NCS: Monday miscellany

Alex at work turning the base of a lamp on the wood lathe. The sixth graders are reviewing a science homework assignment, while the seventh graders are analyzing a poem. The excitement in the halls though, surrounds the casting of the end-of-year performance, “James and the Giant Peach.” The play will be performed on June 5th the evening before graduation. This performance will involve over 40 of our students on stage, close to 20 students behind the stage, and almost everyone rolling up their sleeves and helping with the construction of the set and theater ... A true community effort!

NCS: last Whiteface

Conditions were far from ideal, however the students that signed up for this last skiing and riding of the season had a good time. Enjoy your weekend; it is snowing in the north country.

NCS: birthdays

Celebrating birthdays is important. In addition to celebrating birthdays in individual houses, everyone in the Dining Room sings the NCS happy birthday song to your child on the actual day it occurs. Once a month the kitchen also bakes a big birthday cake to celebrate everyone that had a birthday that month ... As you can see we all just enjoyed cake!

NCS: out time

A fantastic early Spring day. This afternoon’s offerings are: horseback riding, working on the play rehearsals, playing ultimate frisbee, boiling in the sugarhouse, moving and stacking wood, landscaping at the crag, skateboarding, and two short walking trips.

On a different note, Amazon.com just delivered five copies of Mindset, a new book by Stanford researcher Carol Dweck. This superb work on cognitive development, which will be read by many of the staff this summer. (To whet your appetite I have enclosed a graphic from her book ... click on the pictures to enlarge the images.)

NCS: hitting our stride

It seems that jet-lag is behind us, routines are embraced, and earlier bed-times have worked their magic. Classes appear to be firing on all cylinders. The enclosed pictures reflect discussions about: chromosomes, the Battle of Stalingrad, area and perimeter of triangles, as well as life in medieval times. This morning we launched our Green Cup Challenge at Town Meeting ... which house can create the greatest energy savings this month.